{"id":164848,"date":"2025-09-18T06:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/164848\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T06:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:21:10","slug":"8-common-exercises-to-avoid-after-40-worse-than-sitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/164848\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Common Exercises to Avoid After 40 (Worse Than Sitting)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading a sedentary life<\/a> can absolutely wreck your body and overall health. In fact, research<\/a> shows sedentary habits can increase all-cause mortality, cancer risk, CVD mortality, and chances of developing metabolic disorders. That said, there are certain exercises that can be just as harmful after you hit 40\u2014and they should be avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n

As you age, your workout routine should be tweaked according to your body\u2019s current needs. For instance, high-impact activities<\/a> may be more challenging for older athletes, as reaction time naturally decreases with age, says Dr. Milica McDowell, doctor of PT, exercise physiologist, and VP of operations at Gait Happens<\/a>. In addition, movement coordination begins to become \u201cless intuitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t to say an older athlete can\u2019t enjoy activities like pickleball, basketball or plyometrics safely; it\u2019s more that they need a longer warm up, more repetitions to get the \u2018muscle memory\u2019 back, and definitely should ramp up and practice these types of movements rather than just jumping into exercises they haven\u2019t done since high school,\u201d McDowell explains.<\/p>\n

Especially after hitting 40, maximizing your attention to alignment is a must.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, some of the most common moves in the gym can actually speed up wear and tear on your body after 40 if not done right,\u201d says Robert Brace, celebrity trainer and founder of Brace Life Studios<\/a>. \u201cOnce you cross 40, your joints and connective tissue are also not as forgiving as they were in your twenties. Exercises that crank on your lower back, knees, and shoulders can accelerate damage if you don\u2019t adapt them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being sedentary should absolutely be avoided\u2014and so should the below exercises.<\/p>\n

8 Common Exercises That Destroy Your Body
\n\tPlyometric Exercises<\/p>\n

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Exercises like box jumps, plyo pushups, burpees, and lateral bounds can be incredibly harsh on your body as you age.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlyometric exercises in those who aren\u2019t used to them can put your connective tissues (think Achilles tendon) at risk,\u201d McDowell notes. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t done a box step-up in years, progressing to activities like box jumps\u2014or worse, jumping down from a box jump\u2014can be super risky for lower body tendons.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 Bodyweight Moves That Build Core Power Better Than Gym Equipment After 40<\/a><\/p>\n

\tTwisting Exercises<\/p>\n

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Russian twists, cable woodchops, and landmine rotations are all examples of exercises that have a twisting component.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e<\/p>\n

\u201cTwisting exercises can be risky for those with limited mobility,\u201d McDowell stresses. \u201cIf you have poor range of motion, doing exercises like woodchops or medicine ball cross body movements can irritate your low back.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 Short Workouts That Keep You Stronger Than Most 30-Year-Olds After 50<\/a><\/p>\n

\tRucking<\/p>\n

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Rucking involves wearing a weighted backpack\u2014or rucksack\u2014while walking or hiking. If you aren\u2019t conditioned for this form of exercise, McDowell cautions to avoid it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are trying weighted waking (rucking, or weighted vests) for the first time, and adding additional load can exacerbate old injuries if you haven\u2019t properly ramped up by using small increments of weight over weeks or months,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b 4 Quick Tests That Reveal Your True Fitness Age After 45<\/a><\/p>\n

\tOlympic Lifts<\/p>\n

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If you aren\u2019t trained, Olympic lifts are another intense exercise to avoid.<\/p>\n

\u201cPicking up a barbell without expert instruction can be a recipe for injury,\u201d McDowell explains. \u201cResist the peer pressure in workout classes like HIIT or CrossFit to try snatches, cleans or deadlifts if you haven\u2019t had 1:1 coaching to properly learn the techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 Daily Exercises That Rebuild Lost Muscle Faster Than the Gym After 50<\/a><\/p>\n

\tSprinting Sports<\/p>\n

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While McDowell recognizes that this may be an unpopular opinion, if you\u2019re 40+ and don\u2019t regularly play a sport that requires sprinting\u2014like basketball or soccer\u2014the risks of a calf, hamstring, or groin injury far outweigh any benefits.<\/p>\n

\tSit-Ups And Crunches<\/p>\n

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If done improperly, sit-ups and crunches can overwork your hip flexors and spine while minimally engaging your deep core muscles.<\/p>\n

\u201cFew people take the time or have the know-how to do them the right way,\u201d Brace tells us. \u201cI\u2019ve seen many people pulling on their necks to get up and going back down with a straight unprotected spine. This can lead to injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBehind-The-neck Lat Pulldowns or Presses<\/p>\n

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Brace cautions against behind-the-neck presses or pulldowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one is not a favorite of mine. There are other, safer ways to get the same job done,\u201d Brace stresses. \u201c[The motion] puts your shoulders in an unnatural position that strains the rotator cuff and can [strain] or even hurt the neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Your Body Can Handle These 6 Tests, You\u2019re Aging Like a Pro<\/a><\/p>\n

\tLong-Distance, High-Impact Running<\/p>\n

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While running can be a great cardio workout, beware of improper technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, the repetitive pounding breaks down joints more than it builds your body up,\u201d Brace says.<\/p>\n

Looking for easy ways to lose fat? Here\u2019s How Long Your Walking Workout Should Be To Shrink Belly Fat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alexa Mellardo<\/p>\n

\t\tAlexa is a content strategist, editor, and writer based in Greenwich, Connecticut. She has 11+ years of experience creating content for travel, lifestyle, fitness, wellness, F&B, home, and celeb news publications.\t\t\t\t\tRead more about Alexa <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading a sedentary life can absolutely wreck your body and overall health. In fact, research shows sedentary habits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[674,337,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-164848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-exercise","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}